“Communication is the key to our international success, and BlackBerry holds that key for us. It’s a two-way street between sharing and receiving information and our BlackBerry solution helps us achieve goals that we’ve set for ourselves.” — Vikas Sharma, Business Process and IT Head, Homex India Private Ltd

When Vikas Sharma became Business Process and IT Head at Homex India Private Ltd., a subsidiary of Desarrolladora Homex, S.A.B. de C.V, he soon realized the challenges of corresponding with the company’s head office in Mexico, thousands of miles and many time zones away. Inquiries would often go unanswered for hours and it was difficult for Sharma to efficiently support a number of projects.

Sharma’s role has recently expanded to include the company’s new Saudi Arabia office. This move has prompted him to create a reliable communications strategy that effectively connected each office and took advantage of the security provided by the BlackBerry® Enterprise Server. Building upon the company’s existing BlackBerry® smartphone deployment to its senior management and project leaders, Sharma encouraged the employees to better leverage the many features offered on their BlackBerry devices.

Protecting private corporate information was also a key consideration. From an IT administration perspective, Homex effectively managed the BlackBerry deployment through IT policies via the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. This gave Sharma the confidence that company material was securely managed.

The BlackBerry Advantage

“It started with a broader use of the BlackBerry solution,” said Sharma. “Since we have offices spread out across several different time zones, we’re essentially online as a company at all hours, and by educating staff about the reliability and security of the email function on their BlackBerry smartphone, I was able to start working with other BlackBerry features.”

Sharma educated employees about the benefits of working with BBM™ contact information, encouraging them to send him messages whenever they had an inquiry or issue. Working with BBM allowed Sharma the flexibility to manage two offices at once, whether in India or Saudi Arabia, where he travels for 15 days every three months.

“BBM allows me to address any concerns very quickly,” said Sharma. “The fact that I know when the messages have been delivered and read help minimize the geographic barriers in a sense. I don’t have to wait a day, as is the case with email sometimes, to follow up on any outstanding projects and everyone just seems much more organized when we use BBM.”

The company’s improved communications has resulted in much faster and more effective responses to its SLAs, which Sharma calls the backbone of any IT function. Whether rectifying the problem immediately or connecting with the Mexico office to find a solution, Homex now has a solid and robust continuation system for its SLAs.

Homex’s BlackBerry solution has also resulted in an estimated savings in overall communication costs by up to 40 per cent in some cases. Rather than rely on more costly and oftentimes less reliable international mobile services, the company takes full advantage of the BlackBerry smartphone’s data efficiency and Wi-Fi® connectivity to save money, especially during trips to other offices.

“At the end of the day,” Sharma said, “the company’s IT departments are now far more integrated and employees more attentive because of the improved follow-ups on deliverables.

“Communication is the key to our international success, and BlackBerry holds that key for us,” said Sharma. “It’s a two-way street between sharing and receiving information and our BlackBerry solution helps us achieve goals that we’ve set for ourselves. My BlackBerry smartphone is always in my hand.”

Have a success story similar to Homex? Tell us at success@rim.com. Do you use BlackBerry® Messenger for business? How has it provided benefits to your internal and external communication? Share in the comments below.